Smart Boys!

In November I got a call from the school, telling me that both of my boys were going to be honored at an assembly.  Parker for his 4.0, and Connor as one of 4 kids of the term!

These are all the kids of the term for 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.  Connor was the only boy in 7th who was chosen.  Apparently the teachers all get together and decide who they think would be a good canidate, based on grades, and how respectful and kind they are to the other students.  I'll take a good and kind boy any day!

Parker is one of the hardest workers I know.  He is really aware of when his assignments are due, and frequently stays after school to finish up homework, or get help when he needs it. 

Pumpkins and Pickiness!

Truth be known, I do not enjoy putting my hand in cold, slimy, pumpkin guts, but my kids LOVE IT!  So...I take the pics!!  We grew these pumpkins all summer, and the kids had their pumpkin picked out in the garden weeks ago.  Karl loves to cook the seeds, (another thing I don't enjoy), and the kids love eating them.

How many of you..be honest...like Halloween?  I'll tell you why I dread Halloween.  It can be summed up with one word...COSTUMES!  Not to mention the holiday is all dark, gory, and evil..but back to the costumes.  So Taylor told me in July, yes July, that he wanted to be a vampire.  We have had his costume ready for months, and I thought to myself, "maybe this year won't be a costume nightmare..", Ooooh how wrong I was!  The kid started changing his mind 4 days before Halloween, and was in genuine turmoil over it.  All day I'd hear, "I just don't know what to be!"

I'd reply..."a vampire."

Taylor:  "no, I don't want to be that anymore."

Me:  "but you look so cute as a vampire." ooops...

Taylor:  "I don't want to look like a CUTE VAMPIRE!"

Me:  "I mean, you look all creepy and everything."

Taylor:  "no, I just don't know what to be."

He finally decided he would call on the family for help.  At the dinner table he announced that he would be having a contest to see who could pick out the best costume, and to bring it to the family room after dinner.  We all obliged, and produced our best ideas from the dress up bins. (and his dresser, which happens to be full of costumes..aaagh!)

This is what we came up with for his approval:

We each took a turn to describe our costume ideas, and to try to convince him to choose something. We had an army man, Spidy, an Indian, a Nephite, a mummy, How to Train your Dragon guy (last years costume), a baker, and I even tried the vampire thing again. 

He still went to bed discouraged.  I'm embarassed to admit that I caved, and took him to the store.  He ended up looking like an...

ALIEN! 

Soooo not my first choice, but he paid for 1/2, and I was exhausted!

Alyssa:  Lavendar Brown (Harry Potter)

Parker:  Harry Potter

Connor: guy in a toga

Ashlyn:  rock star

Taylor...well you know!

Fall and Friends

If I'm remembered for nothing else when I die, I hope children will always know they are welcome in my home.  I love my kid's friends, and frequently take them on little outings.  We have a policy, "if we can fit ya in the van, you're welcome to join us!".  I was anxious to get up into the mountains with the beautiful fall colors, so we packed up some hotdogs and marshmallows, invited whoever we could fit, and headed up the canyon one afternoon after school. 

The kids were awesome, and were good sports with their burnt popcorn, and hotdogs!

Great group of kids, so grateful my children have such quality friends!

The Mighty EAGLE!

An Eagle Project is quite a beast to take on!! 

Luckily Parker was one of those rare kids who was independently motivated, (with occasional reminders from mom and dad..:).  He really wanted to help the people in Japan following their tsunami, since we've been lucky to get to know a couple Japanese students, but the Church Humanitarian Center doesn't directly ship supplies to Japan.  After touring the inspiring Humanitarian Center, Parker turned to me and said, "I don't care where our donations go, anywhere the Lord needs them is fine by me."  He decided to hold a yard sale, and use the proceeds to buy school kit supplies.  He had a goal of 50 kits, but ended up making 137 kits due to the generous donations of our ward members, and of the sucessful yard sale.  It was a great experience for our whole family!

We set up all the yard sale items the day before, so Parker decided to sleep outside to protect the stuff.

We had soooo much stuff come in, it barely fit on our driveway!

The bench the kids are sitting in, was the hot item!  We had bought it from the old Manila church that had been sold.  We realized the bench wasn't what we wanted in our basement, and EVERYONE wanted it!  We should have charged more for it...who knew??? 

All the Teachers came over and helped assemble the kits in our basement.  Many hands make light work for sure!

We delivered all of our supplies to the Humanitarian Center and felt a great sense of accomplishment..and exhaustion! Parker was barely 14 yrs. old when he completed everything, so proud of a kid so young!

At the end of October, Parker had his Board of Review, and passed with flying colors!  Thank goodness, because after all of that work, Karl and I may have gone balistic!

Now to plan a Court of Honor in January!

Where to Next?

I had a chance to travel a little bit the past couple of months, which is really rare for me, since I'm such a home body!  Boy was I glad I got to get away though, lots of great memories, and time spent with family.

Lee and Lisa (the lovely folks behind us..) and Karl and I decided to try out the Provo to Denver direct flight.  New this year!  We spent 2 days just romping around Denver and Boulder CO.  I laughed the ENTIRE weekend!  We ate great food, stayed in a beautiful hotel, and enjoyed the strange, liberal town of Boulder...:)

Downtown Denver.
Our feet are starting to kill us after walking all day...so fun though!

We knew there was a "blue bear" somewhere in the city, but couldn't seem to find it until...we turned THIS corner...yeah, our jaws pretty much dropped open!

Probably the funnest part of our trip for me, was hiking in Boulder.  We saw lots of rock climbers, and enjoyed the gorgeous flatirons!

I agreed to pose for about 2 secs, then quickly got off that ledge...SO afraid of heights!!

Karl and Lee...NOT afraid of heights!!

How cool is this rock!!  So cozy!

Next stop...warm and sunny ARIZONA! My sister had her second baby, little Isaiah! I wanted to help her out with her newborn, so Adrienne and I flew out for a week and helped out as best we could, but mostly played with those cute kids!!

Have you ever seen so much hair?  DEFINITELY NOT a Jensen baby! Bald 'til they're 2!

We sisters get along perfectly, and LOVE each other so much! 

Swimming in the pool..that's Arizona for ya in October!! 

Darling Emma kept us smiling all week long!

Birthdays...

Fall is full of parties...of the birthday kind!  Everyone but Ashlyn has a birthday in the late summer/fall seasons, so we party a little extra during those months!

Sept:  Karl says his best gifts are his awesome kids!

We held a birthday party for Karl on a beautiful fall, Sunday afternoon.  Perfect weather!

Karl took me to my favorite restaurant for dinner for my birthday!

King Parker, 14yrs. old!

Alyssa brought Parker a shake from Purple Turtle, and I made him a cloak for night games with the neighborhood kids...you'd have to see it to believe it, but night games are not taken lightly around here!

The kids were really great to each use their own money to buy something for Alyssa.

17 yrs. old! 

A new iTouch..lucky girl!

Taylor's birthday is the day after Halloween, so it was an extra fun weekend!

7 yrs. old!

We took Taylor and his friends to Classic Skating for a party...they mostly used their scooters..:)

Soccer and Shakespeare

September was a busy month with kids and their activities. Connor, Ashlyn and Taylor all had soccer games each week, plus practices, which had Karl and I dividing and conquoring much of our Saturday. I have to admit however, that I adore soccer and can't get enough of watching my kids play!

Alyssa is in drama this year, and the kids performed acts from Shakespeare for the parents at a Renaissance dinner. It was a fun evening where we couldn't use utensils and enjoyed the talents of our kids. I was immediately taken back to 1987 when I was doing the same thing...in the same building...weird!!

Proud of my kids!

AAA Arsenal Soccer Team  Fall 2011

Alyssa had to kiss this guy in the play...ask me if I'm ok with that????